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Topic: Top 5 They-est Movies (Read 125 times)

Most important things first: I am not 100% sure about the grammar of this title. Maybe it should be Them-est Movies instead. But I cannot get the rule right in my head and They-est sounds better anyway so here I am, making decisions and taking chances, like one of those functional people I keep hearing about.

(Seriously though, if someone could clear this up for me, I would appreciate it.)

That said, I think that, as far as the regulars of the forum are concerned, we know each other's movie tastes well enough that once in a while we come across a movie and we think to ourselves « Oh, this is so him. ».

I you want to more what I mean by They-est Movies, here is what I wrote or the You-est Movies Top 5:

There are movies that speak to us on a personal level. No movie can perfectly capture, in its movie-ish kind of way, who we are, because we are complex, infinitely ungraspable human beings and all that, but mostly because we will never admit to our secret gummy bear foot fetish. Some of them however, manage to pretty much nail some aspects of our personality. They speak to the things we like, the people we are, they check all the right boxes, or at least a good deal of them. It's when that preferred-genre film happens to have just the perfect amount of eco-friendly message and juicy woodwork nerdiness. There are movies that are perfect encapsulations of our sense of humour or our deep-rooted faith in humanity. I assume all lawyers relate on a profound spiritual level to Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate and regular people similarly recognise themselves in other characters. You could phrase this as movies that are your spiritual animal, whatever that means. I don't know, I am told mine is an aardvark on Quaaludes.

You can make a single Top 5 with the best matches you can think of, or you can make one per person, it's up to you.

You know, the best tip I ever got as a gift-giver is that it's better not to try and get someone a gift related to what they do for a living or what they love. I mean it's a normal thing... "what should we get so-and-so for their birthday? I don't know... they're really into computer games, lets get them a new mouse". But unless you're really into computer gaming yourself... how are you gunna know which one they'd like?

In some sense, that same notion could be applied to film. Knowing what someone likes gets you in their general area, but it takes liking what they like to really separate the wheat from the chaff effectively. I've seen films and been like "I didn't like this... it seems more like a Bondo sort of movie... it's got all this complex gender stuff going on... but really it might only be complex to me and for Bondo it's like level 1 stuff and the movie would not be intellectually challenging or present him anything he hasn't seen before.

We might think Sandy is predisposed to liking rom-coms or musicals given her top 100, and that if we knew of a rom com or musical it would make a good recommendation. But actually, having seen so many, she might be the last person you want to recommend a rom-com or musical to. She's so well versed she'll be harder to impress, and if your not a rom-com or musical connoisseur yourself you won't know normal from exceptional.

To some degree I think we already know the most Them-est movies. It's their top 5 of their top 100.

Although, I must admit, sometimes I see a film that is so deliberately not for me, that I know it must be for someone else here.

I am a bit of a musical and rom com snob. Something I'm not so proud of! It's true what you said, smirnoff, I've weeded through a lot of stuff I don't like in those genres to get a handle of what I really do. And when the movie gets it right, I'm over the moon.

You bring up an excellent point and also a great gift buying tip. I'll remember to use it! I'm sitting here thinking about my filmspotting friends and your personalities in conjunction to films. All of your top 10's are shoe ins, but what about each other's top 10's? If I were to take my top ten, who would I choose to say, "This film is so him!" ? And how does it reflect his/her personality?

I'll give it a go, without looking to see if a film is on someone's favorite list, even though I know some of them are, so it's not a pure exercise.

(As I'm looking at these, it's almost easier to say which films are "not so him!")

1. Jane Eyre This is so smirnoff! (Well crafted story)2. Pride & Prejudice This is so Bondo! (Gender and societal perspectives)3. Sense and Sensibility This is so OAD! (Painting word art)4. It's a Wonderful Life. This is so pixote! (Warmth. Nostalgic in the best sense of the term)5. Singin' in the Rain This is so 1SO! (Classic love for Hollywood)6. You've Got Mail This is so ses! (ses, help me out! You love this, yes? Spending time in the happy space)7. West Side Story This is so Junior! (ASuperplus commitment to excellence)8. Return to Me This is so Martin Teller! (It's all about the personal stories)9. Galaxy Quest This is so oldkid! (Laughter and heart are the best medicines)10. Cast Away This is so colonel_mexico! (Perseverance)

Let me know if I got any of these wrong.

« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 02:13:03 PM by Sandy »

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"Don't be shy. You learn to fly and see the sun when day is done. If only you see."

Your Top 5 of their Top 100 idea occurred to me but here is why I disregarded it. Take my Top 10. Casablanca and The Godfather are both on there, and so is La Dolce Vita (though that may not be for much longer). You might think I would love, or at least like Fellini, but that is his only movie I can stomach. I adore The Godfather but I am not sure there are three gangster movies in my whole Top 100 and I couldn't name you an extra two I adore. Same thing for Casablanca and whatever genre that belongs to. Genre does not play as much for my very favourite movies as it does for my level of excitement for a movie or the likelihood that I'll like it.